The relationship between resilience and sustainable development of ecological-economic systems

Resilience as a descriptive concept gives insight into the dynamic properties of a system. Sustainability as a normative concept captures basic ideas of inter- and intragenerational justice. In this paper we specify the relationship between resilience and sustainable development. Based on an ecological-economic model where two natural capital stocks provide ecosystem services that are complements for human well-being, we derive conditions on the dynamics of the ecological-economic system and the sustainability criterion, such that a) resilience of the system in a given regime is both necessary and sufficient for sustainable development, b) resilience of the system in a given regime is sufficient, but not necessary, c) resilience of the system in a given regime is necessary, but not sufficient, and d) resilience of the system in a given regime is neither necessary nor sufficient for sustainable development. We conclude that more criteria than the resilience of the current state of the system have to be taken into account when designing policies for sustainable management of ecological-economic systems.ecosystem resilience, sustainable development, management of ecological-economic systems

Managing ecological-economic systems under uncertainty - from concepts to contracts

The dissertation is concerned with the management of ecological-economic systems, especially with policy instruments to promote the ecosystem services such systems provide.Within the research field of environmental and resource economics, resilience has become a key concept to give guidance for the management of ecological-economic systems. However, resilience as an attribute of those systems cannot be alone a sufficient paradigm for a management device e.g. regarding sustainablity, a fallacy which is often made. For the attempt to maintain or increase a specific ecosystem service, such as water purification, landscape beauty or watershed production, policy instruments have been approved as a means to produce environmental goods and services. Such approval is embedded in the logic of public goods and market environmentalism: If markets do not exist the objective is to construct appraisal methods that come as near to the Free Market ideal as possible. Within design of those instruments the dynamics of the system which produces an ecosystem service are usually not considered. The aim of the dissertation is therefore to apply the insights regarding the dynamic of ecological-economic systems and make this knowledge applicable and valuable for the design of policy instruments. Since many open questions exist regarding the behavior and the dynamics of ecological-economic systems, the dissertation exhibits a conceptual and analytical character in large parts. In a fist instance, the relationship between resilience and sustainable development of ecological-economic systems is discussed in detail by means of an ecological-economic system featuring multiple stable states. The obtained result is that a deduction from resilience to sustainability, or vice versa, is not possible. On the basis of the same model the effects of factors influencing the stability and resilience of a system, such as complementarity of resources and species interaction are analyzed. Thereby the insights and knowledge about ecological-economic systems are expanded. To make these insights applicable and valuable for the management of ecological-economic systems the design of policy instruments is analyzed.Die vorliegende Dissertation beschäftigt sich mit dem Management ökologisch-ökonomischer Systeme, insbesondere mit Politikinstrumenten, welche die Bereitstellung von Ökosystemdienstleitungen durch solche Systeme unterstützen. Innerhalb der Umwelt- und Ressourcenökonomik gilt Resilienz zunehmend als ein Schlüsselkonzept für das Management von ökologisch-ökonomischen Systemen. Hierbei wird oft jedoch nicht berücksichtigt, dass Resilienz als eine Eigenschaft ökologisch-ökonomischer Systeme noch keine hinrichtende Bedingung für eine Managementscheidung, z.B. in Hinblick auf Nachhaltigkeit, liefert. Bei dem Bestreben bestimmte Ökosystemdienstleitungen, so genannte “Ecosystem Services”, zu fördern und zu erhalten, werden für den Bereich öffentlicher Güter, zu denen viele dieser Dienstleistungen gehören, vor allem marktwirtschaftliche Instrumente eingesetzt. Bei der Anwendung und Gestaltung dieser werden jedoch bisher die Eigenschaften von dynamischen Systemen nicht berücksichtigt. Das Ziel der Dissertation war es daher, neue Erkenntnisse zur Dynamik ökologischökonomischer Systeme zu gewinnen, und diese bei der Gestaltung von Politikinstrumenten in den Fokus zu nehmen. Da zu dem Verhalten und zu den Eigenschaften ökologisch-ökonomischer Systeme noch viele Fragen offen waren und sind, hat die Arbeit in weiten Teilen einen stark konzeptionellen und analytischen Charakter. Zunächst wird das Verhältnis des Resilienz-Paradigmas als Eigenschaft ökologischökonomischer Systeme zu der normativen Forderung nach einer nachhaltigen Entwicklung analysiert. Mit Hilfe eines ökologisch-ökonomischen Modells werden die unterschiedlichen logischen Möglichkeiten zwischen Resilienz und nachhaltiger Entwicklung dargestellt. Hierbei wird deutlich, dass der logische Schluss von der Resilienz eines bestimmten Zustandes auf dessen Nachhaltigkeit und umgekehrt nicht möglich ist. Anhand eben dieses Modells werden die Auswirkungen von Faktoren wie der Komplementarität bestimmter Ressourcen und Artinteraktionen auf die Stabilität eines Systems verdeutlicht. Die Erkenntnisse in Bezug auf die Reaktionen ökologischökonomischer Systeme werden damit erweitert. Um diese Erkenntnisse auch für das Management ökologisch-ökonomischer Systeme nutzbar zu machen, werden dazu Politikinstrumente untersucht

Hexakis(1H-imidazole-κN 3)nickel(II) triaqua­tris(1H-imidazole-κN 3)nickel(II) bis­(naphthalene-1,4-dicarboxyl­ate)

The crystal structure of the title compound, [Ni(C3H4N2)6][Ni(C3H4N2)3(H2O)3](C12H6O4)2, contains uncoordinated naphthalene­dicarboxyl­ate dianions and two kinds of NiII complex cations, both assuming distorted octa­hedral geometries. One NiII ion is located on an inversion center and is coordinated by six imidazole mol­ecules, while the other NiII ion is located on a twofold rotation axis and is coordinated by three water mol­ecules and three imidazole mol­ecules in a mer-NiN3O3 arrangement. The naphthalene­dicarboxyl­ate dianion links both NiII complex cations via O—H⋯O and N—H⋯O hydrogen bonding, but no π–π stacking is observed between aromatic rings in the crystal structure. One imidazole ligand is equally disordered over two sites about a twofold rotation axis; one N atom and one water O atom have site symmetry 2

5-Fluoro­isophthalic acid

In the crystal structure of the title compound, C8H5FO4, the complete molecule is generated by crystallographic twofold symmetry with two C atoms and the F atom lying on the axis. The mol­ecule is almost planar with the carboxyl group twisted with respect to the mean plane of the benzene ring by a dihedral angle of 2.01 (1)°. In the crystal, inter­molecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds and C—H⋯F inter­actions connect the mol­ecules into a two-dimensional supra­molecular array

Bis(4-amino­pyridinium) bis(hydrogen oxalate) monohydrate

In the title compound, 2C5H7N2 +·2C2HO4 −·H2O, the asymmetric unit consists of an amino­pyridinium cation, an oxalic actetate anion and a half-molecule of water, which lies on a two-fold rotation axis. The crystal packing is consolidated by inter­molecular O—H⋯O, N—H⋯O and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. The mol­ecules are linked into an infinite one dimensional chain along [010]

Bouncing back: A commentary on resilience in sustainability narratives

Resilience is an increasingly common element in the sustainability and sustainable growth narratives of a growing number of companies and organisations. At the same time a number of meanings are claimed for resilience and the relationship between resilience and sustainability has been depicted in a number of ways. With these thoughts in mind this short commentary paper outlines the characteristic features of the concept of resilience, provides some illustrations of how a number of companies and organisations are harnessing the concept as an integral part of their sustainability strategies and policies, offers some general reflections on the application of the concept and concludes with some thoughts on how public relations and communications professionals can contribute to resilience planning